Unless you were on holiday for the entirety of the transfer window, you’ll be fully aware that Manchester United were after Ivan Perisic.
The Inter winger was one of the four players José Mourinho instructed Ed Woodward to get him over the course of the summer, but the Serie A side stood firm, refusing to accept anything under €50m for their star forward.
Manchester United never went that high, having already spent around £150m on three other players, and the Croatia international stayed in Milan this season, now playing under Luciano Spalletti and enjoying himself.
Since then, Perisic has signed a new contract, seeing his wage increase rather considerably.
There was even talk of an ‘anti-Manchester United’ clause, which was basically a clickbait way of saying there wouldn’t be a release clause in his new contract, forcing the Premier League club to pay as much as Inter wanted for their star.
However, Gazzetta dello Sport on Thursday suggest there might be a clause after all, which the Red Devils might be happy to learn about if their interest in Perisic still lives on.
The Italian newspaper reveal “there is talk of a €60m release clause” being included in the contract the Inter forward recently signed, but it can only be triggered from next summer onwards.
This makes a lot of sense, as Perisic seemed extremely keen on a move to Old Trafford over the summer, meaning that it wouldn’t be surprising if he negotiated an easy way out for 2018, by which time he’ll be 29 years of age.
Will Manchester United be willing to pay €60m on someone so close to 30? Logic would say yes, having spent £40m on Nemanja Matic a day before his 29th birthday.
Yet, with a rejuvenated Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford still doing his thing, it remains to be seen if José Mourinho still feels another winger is needed.
